Paul Francis Conrad was born on June 27, 1924 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During World
War II, Conrad served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and he received a B.A.
in art from the University of Iowa in 1950, where he contributed cartoons to college
paper, the
Daily Iowan. Growing up in Iowa, Conrad was inspired by Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling’s cartoons
in the
Des Moines Register. From 1950 to 1964, Conrad was the editorial cartoonist at the
Denver Post with his work distributed by the Hall Syndicate. He left the
Denver Post for the
Los Angeles Times.

Conrad joined the
Los Angeles Times several years after Otis Chandler became publisher, marking an era of change in
which the newspaper's editorial page began to voice more liberal viewpoints and the
paper worked to increase its visibility and expand its influence, which sparked criticism
from more conservative members of the famed Chandler family. Conrad's cartoons were
part of that new direction. His work was also syndicated through the Los Angeles
Times Syndication. Conrad remained with the
Los Angeles Times until 1993 when he accepted a buyout after changes to the paper's management took
place, with the Chandler family no longer having a connection to the paper.

Conrad was renowned for his bold depictions and in particular his caricatures of
Richard Nixon during Watergate. Conrad's work angered Nixon and other politicians:
he was named on Nixon's infamous enemies list and Los Angeles mayor Sam Yorty brought
a libel suit against Conrad in 1968. Ironically, Conrad would later hold the Richard
M. Nixon Lecture Chair at Whittier College from 1977 to 1978.

Conrad won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for his work at the
Denver Post and received two additional Pulitzer prizes in 1971 and 1984. Conrad was also a Pulitzer
Prize finalist in 1998. Sigma Delta Chi presented several awards to him (1953, 1969,
1971, 1981-1982, 1996). His many other recognitions include seven Distinguished Service
Awards by the Society of Professional Journalists and four Robert F. Kennedy Journalism
Awards (1985, 1990, 1992-1993).

Several compilations of Conrad’s cartoons have been published including
Pro and Conrad (1979),
Drawn and Quartered (1985) and his autobiography,
I, Con : the autobiography of Paul Conrad, editorial cartoonist (2006). The PBS Independent Lens documentary released in 2006,
PAUL CONRAD: Drawing Fire, explored Conrad's 50 year career. Also a sculptor, Conrad's bronze works of political
leaders were exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Paul Conrad lived in Rancho Palos Verdes, California and continued to draw editorial
cartoons into his 80s, which were distributed by the Tribune Media Syndicate. He died
at his home on September 4, 2010.

The
Paul Conrad Cartoons contain approximately 1,089 original editorial cartoons from 1963 to 1969. The cartoons
from 1963 as well as several from 1964 date to Conrad's time at the
Denver Post. The remaining the cartoons (the bulk of the collection) were published by the
Los Angeles Times .

Conrad commented primarily on national and world affairs with some attention directed
towards California politics and Los Angeles mayor Sam Yorty. Conrad provided extensive
commentary on the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War’s increasing
escalation under Johnson’s order. With the election of Ronald Reagan as California
Governor, Conrad’s attention to California politics becomes a more common theme and
Reagan's hopes at becoming a viable presidential candidate (and the influence of Reagan's
past as an actor) are chronicled. Conrad, drawing for a California paper, explored
the influence of the Sunbelt on American politics and also chronicled the emergence
of the right wing faction of the Republican Party, going so far as to refer to them
as “kooks” in more than one cartoon.
While famous for his portrayals of Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, that
period of Conrad's work is not represented in this collection. However, this collection
offers examples of Conrad's earlier treatment of Richard Nixon as his gained political
strength leading up to the 1968 presidential election.

While known to take liberal positions on issues, no particular political party or
figure was immune from Conrad's bold depictions. For example, in cartoons about the
civil rights movement, Conrad is both critical of southern, white supremacists as
well as the shift among some activists to black nationalism. Conrad’s treatment of
events also went beyond the surface of such issues. His civil rights cartoons are
evidence of this. While critical of urban race riots and the new emphasis on black
militancy in mid to late 1960s, Conrad also produced cartoons that explored possible
roots of such problems such as a lack of education and poverty. His coverage of the
Poor People’s Campaign in 1968 represents Conrad's attention to topics absent from
other cartoonists' considerations during this era.

Conrad also frequently utilized people and themes from popular culture in his caricatures.
Political figures like Ronald Reagan and Hubert Humphrey were transformed into Peanuts
and Disney characters. Other figures appear in literary allusions to Shakespeare’s
works. He also juxtaposed references to the counterculture with political events
and figures: Robert F. Kennedy appeared as a long haired Maharishi Mahesh Yogi figure
in a transcendental mediation pose and the band Jefferson Airplane became the “Jeffersonian
Airplane”.

Each cartoon is dated and bears a mark of the syndicate which distributed it. The
cartoons were drawn with pen, ink and crayon on illustration board and measure approximately
11 ½" x 14". The captions are typically written on the cartoon in pencil, however
several have been printed and pasted on. The bottom border of the cartoons generally
have notations and numbers in pencil related to the cartoon's production in print.
One color cartoon is in the collection, (July 12, 1964) and appears to have been created
for and aired on NBC television. It depicts the potential Republican presidential
candidates during the 1964 election as feathers on the iconic NBC peacock.

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require
advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance
concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and
all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from
any
materials in this collection.

The following is a list of predominant people, places and subjects appearing in the
editorial cartoons in this collection. The list is not exhaustive. Some subjects
may require you to browse with alternative terms.